Big second half powers KA Rams to 52-6 win

After running out of gas in the second half against Porters Chapel in the season opener, the exact opposite happened to the Kemper Academy Rams Friday night as they turned a 12-6 halftime lead over Discovery Christian into a 52-6 win. 

This win means a lot as it is the Rams first win under the leadership of Head Coach Steve Cheatham. “We finally competed,” Cheatham said, as he preached to his team to compete week in week out. Defense had a major key in the game, as the Rams defense did not allow a point. 

“Our defense has played well every week,” Cheatham says, “The offense gave them some help tonight”. Cheatham also says that the offense took pressure off of Defensive Coordinator Michael Dawkins and the defense, where they were able to test out some things they haven’t been able to. 

Discovery’s only points came from a pick six in the mid second quarter on a mistimed shovel pass. It was all KA from that point on as they scored 46 unanswered to win the game. The game was off to a slow start and despite the high score, neither team was able to put points on the board in the first quarter. But on the first play of the second quarter, Eli Weaver rolled out and hit Colton Kynerd in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass to take a 6-0 lead. After getting the ball back, KA would give up the pick six. Just a few plays after, Eli Weaver showed off his feet with a 65 yard touchdown run, putting the Rams up 12-6 at halftime. 

“I challenged them at halftime, I said ‘lets go finish this thing,’” Cheatham said, “They finished and they played hard.” KA opened the second half the same way it opened the second quarter, with a touchdown pass from Eli Weaver to Kynerd, however this time it was for 65 yards. After a defensive stop and a couple of positive offensive plays, Weaver broke free for his fourth touchdown of the game, from 43 yards. After the touchdown, Thomas Mattox kicked off and the ball deflected off a returner's hands out of bounds and the flag was thrown. Due to the kick out of bounds and a tripping call, Discovery would start from midfield. 

A KA defender forced a fumble that was recovered by Brody Weaver. On the very next play, Eli Weaver and Kynerd did it again, this time from 54 yards. Kynerd made a top play using the defenders helmet to hold onto the football and break away from the defender to score. On the Rams next drive, Nick Dawkins, who has been a force on defense for KA this year, broke free and ran over multiple defenders, spinning off of the man to beat, taking it 38 yards to the house for his first score of the year. 

With the clock running in the fourth, Brody Weaver broke free for a unique run. He broke a tackle and made several defenders miss on his run and even got stuck in a mud puddle on his way. However he was able to use his incredible speed and agility to get into the end zone from 45 yards. 

Eli Weaver once again impressed, totaling over 300 yards of total offense, while being responsible for five touchdowns. 

“It's good to win, It’s always good to win,” Cheatham said. The Rams will be looking to continue winning games this week as they travel down south to Gulfport to take on Christian Collegiate. “We’ll figure out what to do and see how we can play with them,” Cheatham said.